Echo
by alois
Summary: With a fast failing mental state, little doll Kaito is far from a porcelain figurine meant to sit and look pretty. After summoning a demon with a history with him to boot; Kaito is thrust into the world of the supernatural. Rewrite of Reflection. ABANDONED


Kaito has always considered the glassy look in his eyes unnatural. Even if he's been sculpted to be the perfect person, it's what always gives it away. He's different, and it drives him _absolutely insane_. Once or twice he's considered poking out his eyes or blinding himself in some sort of way to avoid seeing himself. It doesn't help that Master _dearest_ has put mirrors everywhere. ("I want you to realise how _beautiful_ you are. I want you to remind yourself how, why and who have made you so _beautiful_.") Master sends shivers down his spine and his artificial heart beats in anticipation every time the others and himself are lined up to be checked. What makes a man so twisted that they send their own creations into a fit of insanity? And then to be so _carelessly_ apathetic about it? His best friend, Meito, had once told him about a pair of twins who had gone on a botched massacre before killing themselves. When he ran to tell Master about it, he'd merely laughed and ordered some maid to clean up the mess. Meito also recalls that Master referred to the incident as "Monochrome Ward", which had turned out to be the name of some play that he had once seen. Kaito's hands curl into fists, and his nails dig so deep he can feel "blood" seeping through. Why does Master bother creating if he makes no means to keep the creations healthy mentally and physically? Meito himself is a mystery to Kaito, having being around the longest yet so sane. It wasn't until Meito was drunk one day that he admitted he had made a deal with the devil to make him human, to "fix" him.

It's this that leads Kaito to where he is right now, in Master's giant library. Rows upon rows of books fill the vast shelves, some so high that it is impossible by any means to reach them. Unless of course, you are Kaito, and know your way around said library with its many hidden doorways for access to these books. He grips the tiny black book tightly against his chest, running down the stairwell to the door on the opposite side of a door masquerading as a shelf. It's not easy to be invisible, because the walls have very good ears that eventually make it back to Master, as all things do. Kaito hides the book childishly underneath his shirt, tucking the bottom of it into his pants so that it will stay put. He walks very quickly, not making eye contact with anyone. He can't afford for anyone to take a look in those disgustingly blue eyes of his and read his thoughts, and as soon as he makes it to his room, he sighs in relief. The manor was suspiciously empty today, had he missed something important for this little rendezvous of his? No, of course not. He is Master's favourite and would never be left out of anything.

Unless...

No, _of course_ not. Kaito shakes the negative thoughts out of his head as he moves to stand on the balcony, basking in the sunset's light, and as he tilts his head back to feel the soft breezes playing with his blue hair, he can make the comparison of the sunset to his current sanity. Coming and going, but soon to disappear completely. He can feel his breath hitching in his throat as he returns inside, but not before bringing out the book from his shirt so that the single scarlet jewel on the cover may catch some light. The jewel seems to reflect off the glassiness of his eyes, much to his dismay. Kaito closes the curtains, and reaches inside the book to pull out a piece of coal. He draws a devil's trap on the floor, the feel of the symbol so awkwardly familiar to him but he can't put his finger on it. After he's done, he presses his lips to the ruby, the gem burning his lips. Even the book knows how dangerous this situation is. As his mind is plagued by other things, he can very vaguely feel himself speaking an incantation before dropping the book face down onto the symbol on the floor. The ruby shatters into a million pieces like a mirror was being smashed, and almost instantly the room feels stuffier, different. There are flashes of painful heat behind his eyes, and a red haze in the room makes it hard to see anything. If this is the price he must pay for wanting something so impossible, he is more than happy to go through with this. The aura in the room is practically suffocating him, and he drops to his knees involuntarily, weakened by whatever being is in the room now. He's so close to fainting, his heart is beating so fast and his eyes are starting to close and...

Nothing. The room clears quickly and Kaito's consciousness is restored. He breaths in the clean air and brushes himself off, running a hand through his sweat drenched hair before looking around frantically for any sign of the ritual working. The room is as empty as it was before, with the exception being the smell of some sort of spice in the air... almost like cinnamon. It burns his nose.

"Hello?"

Wait, what? What in the name of Master was that?

"Did you summon me here for the _hell_ of it? I'm a busy person, you know."

Kaito takes a few steps around the room, trying to locate the mysterious voice. When he passes by the mirror, the weirdest thing happens. He takes a peek back, and his reflection is totally screwed up. He doesn't have red hair or eyes, he doesn't wear black clothing, and he definitely isn't standing so casually.

Then the reflection rolls his eyes and speaks. His voice is suave and almost sounds like Kaito's himself.

"Look, kid, don't waste my time. What do you want?"

Kaito's still in shock that the spell worked (and the fact that the demon looks just like him) but he manages to find the words.

"H- human."

"What?"

"I- I want to be human." He looks down, almost embarrassed at how awful he sounds. Since when did he start to talk like a child?

"Oh? Why? Aren't you happy the way you are?" His voice is laced with a teasing tone, but it still makes Kaito mad.

"If by happy you mean nearly insane and suicidal? Then yes."

"What makes you think these problems disappear when you go human?" The demon doesn't sound so amused anymore, and takes a step through the mirror whilst Kaito tries to not drown in his thoughts.

"Your kind has been here before. For my friend, Meito. He says it's the only thing that helped him from going off the edge."

"'My kind'?" The demon laughs, crossing his arms and walking around Kaito, his red eyes raking over the other. "The name Meito does ring a bell though, not surprised if people with deals have been saying wonderful stuff about us. Sort of that after-taste when both parties get what they want."

"Will you help me, then?"

"Slow down there, kiddo. Usually I have to do a background check on whomever, y'know." Kaito feels like stomping down his foot and threatening the other, but he knows in the end that won't get him what he wants. He remembers something Meito told him that one day, '_Demons aren't easily threatened, and if you get on their nerves they either twist what you want for their own enjoyment or refuse it flat out_.'

"But I can't afford to wai-"

"You can afford to do whatever _I tell you to_." The teasing tone has turned to a snarky one. The redhead slips his fingers into Kaito's hair and pulls back a little, enough to get Kaito to let out a cry. It's clear to him that this demon probably isn't one to anger.

"I'm sorry." Kaito whimpers, "I'm sorry." The demon releases his hair, and does a walk around Kaito two or three times before his tone softens.

"You're incredibly lucky," He says. "That I have a soft spot for people that look like me." The jokey tone in his voice is back and he pats Kaito on the back. Internally, Kaito sighs in relief. He has learned his lesson with regards to demons. The demon rakes his eyes over Kaito, before shaking his head and looking down.

"Do you really want to go through with this?"

"I didn't summon you here for fun." Kaito frowned.

"It's just- there might be things involved with your past that-"

"Please, I don't need to hear the history of Master's abuse," Kaito begs. "I've seen it; it replays in my mind all the time."

"N- No, it's not that. W- What did you say your name was?" Does the demon actually look _frightened_? Is he really so twisted that even a demon fears his creation?

"It's Kaito." The blue haired one says.

"Impossible." The demon replies, pacing back and forth. "No, this can't be right."

"What?" Kaito demands. "What? Is it the fact that I'm not real and yet can feel emotion? Is it my mental state? Why are you so antsy?"

"No, no, it's not you. Or… rather it is so and yet is not you. You have such a strange aura, it's almost demonic."

Kaito is stunned silent. He ponders this for a moment, is this because Master could be a demon?

"If I'm not mistaken, you could be a demon soul trapped in that odd body of yours, and because you're so close to demons, your soul is trying to break free and return to where you belong."

"Does this mean… Master is a demon?" Kaito asks.

"No, he's not. One of your friends however…"

"Mei… Meito?" Kaito swallows the anxiety in his throat.

"Yes! That's where I've heard that name before! Your friend was the same sort of problem as you. And we just thought this was merely a myth… we couldn't begin to imagine that supernatural beings were being imprisoned in these… bodies. They are basically empty shells, err, lockboxes, as you may call them. The only true way out is death, however we don't know for sure, as this might not return you to your body and rather send you somewhere else... where supernatural beings go when they die, where we cannot reach them anymore after that."

"What does this have to do with Meito and me?"

"A few years ago, a war broke out in Hell. One of my brothers and our army's general was "killed", or so we had thought. The man who had started the war was already leader of Will O' The Wisps, and he wanted control of Hell from my family."

"Will O' The Wisps, you mean the faerie and spirit lands?"

The demon nodded, "I see you know your history."

"Yes, I know all about it from Master's library. He has books on everything."

"Does he, now? Any on demons or souls?"

"Just one on demons… something about exorcisms, and on souls there are two or three; one I've never read because the pages are a bit faded, but it looks to be on…" Kaito stopped dead in his tracks, the pieces of the puzzle fitting together in his head.

"What was that book on?" The redhead asked, showing concern.

"Soul-ripping, like, taking a soul away from its body." The demon took Kaito by the collar and shook him.

"Take me to that book, _now_."

"Alright, alright!" Kaito replied, gripping the other's wrists to get him to stop. "But first, you went off topic again, what does the war have to do with me or Meito?" This makes the demon stop, and he lets go of Kaito.

"You see, my brother's name was Kaito and mine is Akaito. We were twins. After he was gone, I never fully got that feeling that I was completely missing my other half."

"Was Meito the name of the General?"

Akaito nods, and slips his hand in Kaito's to pull him along. "Take me to the library, and maybe we will be able to fix this little problem of ours."

"Will this mean that I will be restored?"

"Only if you are truly a demon. If you are not, there will be more complications and I might have to do to you what we accidently did to Meito; turn you full human."

"But wait- please, Akaito, right?" He pleads, hopeful that this demon might be his saviour. "My mental state is failing, we have to hurry or I might go completely insane."

"Then we have no time to lose, right?" Akaito smiles warmly, dragging the other into a stumbled run to the library.

xxxxxxx

I will be redoing Reflection (this story), Magnet and Masquerade. I cannot stand the way I had previously written them, they were so rushed and horrible and good god what was I thinking! They will now read more smoothly, and I promise this time I will try to take my time to develop so that people can understand what's going on and how the characters develop. One of the most important things, especially in VOCALOID fandom, where the characters are your sandbox, are developing realistic people, no matter how unrealistic the story may be. So please, I hope you enjoy this story the way it should have been written previously, and if you see mistakes or I'm going too fast again don't hesitate to yell at me to slow down. xD


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